Equitrans says Mountain Valley Pipeline now in service
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a critical Appalachian Basin gas pipeline spanning Virginia and West Virginia, is now in service, Equitrans Midstream, operator of the troubled project, said on June 14.
It is available for interruptible or short-term firm transportation service until long-term firm capacity obligations begin July 1.
“This is an important and long-awaited day for our nation and the millions of Americans who now have greater access to an abundant supply of domestic natural gas for use as an affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy resource,” Equitrans Midstream CEO Diana Charletta said. “Natural gas is an essential fuel for modern life, and, as a critical infrastructure project, the Mountain Valley Pipeline will play an integral role in achieving a lower-carbon future while helping to ensure America’s energy and economic security for decades to come.”
The 303-mile pipeline is designed to carry up to 2bn ft3/day of natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale basins to local distribution companies, industrial gas users and power generation facilities in the growing demand markets of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the US.
Conceived in 2014, MVP faced countless legal obstacles as fossil fuel opponents and other environmental activist groups launched a string of legal challenges. In the end, it took a presidential decree from US President Joe Biden in February 2023 to complete the pipeline, which has ballooned in cost to nearly $8bn from $3.5bn when construction started in 2019.